John Stewart MacArthur and the Forrest brothers patent the cyanide process for gold extraction in Glasgow, Scotland. This revolutionary metallurgical technique uses a diluted sodium cyanide solution to chemically dissolve and extract gold from low-grade, finely crushed ores that were previously impossible to process efficiently. This invention drastically increases global gold production, making deep-reef mining highly lucrative worldwide and rescuing the Witwatersrand gold fields from bankruptcy. It solidifies the global gold standard but introduces toxic cyanide waste streams into ecosystems near mining districts.

The chemical precision and corporate scale of the cyanide process influence late Victorian and early Edwardian literature exploring industrial modernity. Poets like John Davidson use metaphors drawn from industrial chemistry and metallurgy to express the cold, calculated efficiency of modern life. The transformation of raw rock into pure gold via toxic chemical solutions becomes a compelling, dark allegory in poetry for the dehumanizing processes of late 19th-century capitalism.